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En kritisk studie av ekologisk hållbarhet i bostadssektorn - Med fokus på tekniska lösningar och delade boendeformer

Alfredsson, Karin LU (2019) SGEL36 20191
Department of Human Geography
Abstract
This study is based on the reflections that society's activities have a negative impact on the climate and that there are planetary boundaries that need to be taken into account if ecological sustainability will have a chance to be achieved. Today the Swedish housing sector is quite resource intensive and contribute to about 20 percent of the Swedish emissions of carbon dioxide, which is about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Both the nation and the sector though aim to reach zero net emissions by 2045 and therefore have a lot of work ahead of them. At the same time, there is a housing shortage in the country and it is estimated that about 500 000 additional homes need to be made available within the next 10 years. Therefore, a... (More)
This study is based on the reflections that society's activities have a negative impact on the climate and that there are planetary boundaries that need to be taken into account if ecological sustainability will have a chance to be achieved. Today the Swedish housing sector is quite resource intensive and contribute to about 20 percent of the Swedish emissions of carbon dioxide, which is about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Both the nation and the sector though aim to reach zero net emissions by 2045 and therefore have a lot of work ahead of them. At the same time, there is a housing shortage in the country and it is estimated that about 500 000 additional homes need to be made available within the next 10 years. Therefore, a complex dilemma arises: the climate impact needs to be minimized, while the housing sector needs to be expanded.

Different perspectives have different opinions about how this dilemma should be dealt with. This thesis shows that some puts the trust in the technical solutions and say that we will be able to solve the ecological problems that the housing sector is facing through technological development. Others argue that the focus on technological development neglects the chance to create a long-term sustainable housing sector, as technical developments probably not will increase the absolute ecological sustainability (although the relative can increase). The second perspective argues that the housing sector needs to think in new ways and challenge the existing norms and cultural patterns in the sector.

As a result of this, the thesis looks into the potential that shared housing could contribute with, as an alternative to today's resource intensive housing. The thesis results in thoughts about how the shared housing has a potential to increased ecological sustainability in the housing sector through sharing different resources within the home. The analysis of this thesis shows that the absolute ecological sustainability is difficult to increase as a focus on technological development is prioritized. It also shows that shared housing has the potential to increase the ecological sustainability in the housing sector. However, which factors plays a role in this is something that, based on the scope of this thesis, is difficult to say for sure. Though, it is something that future research can investigate to enable the ability to increase the ecological sustainability in the housing sector. (Less)
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author
Alfredsson, Karin LU
supervisor
organization
course
SGEL36 20191
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Housing sector, Ecological sustainability, Shared forms of housing, Technical solutions, Non-technical solutions Bostadssektorn, Ekologisk hållbarhet, Delade boendeformer, Tekniska lösningar, Icke-tekniska lösningar
language
Swedish
id
8978142
date added to LUP
2019-06-10 09:07:28
date last changed
2019-06-10 09:07:28
@misc{8978142,
  abstract     = {{This study is based on the reflections that society's activities have a negative impact on the climate and that there are planetary boundaries that need to be taken into account if ecological sustainability will have a chance to be achieved. Today the Swedish housing sector is quite resource intensive and contribute to about 20 percent of the Swedish emissions of carbon dioxide, which is about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Both the nation and the sector though aim to reach zero net emissions by 2045 and therefore have a lot of work ahead of them. At the same time, there is a housing shortage in the country and it is estimated that about 500 000 additional homes need to be made available within the next 10 years. Therefore, a complex dilemma arises: the climate impact needs to be minimized, while the housing sector needs to be expanded. 

Different perspectives have different opinions about how this dilemma should be dealt with. This thesis shows that some puts the trust in the technical solutions and say that we will be able to solve the ecological problems that the housing sector is facing through technological development. Others argue that the focus on technological development neglects the chance to create a long-term sustainable housing sector, as technical developments probably not will increase the absolute ecological sustainability (although the relative can increase). The second perspective argues that the housing sector needs to think in new ways and challenge the existing norms and cultural patterns in the sector. 

As a result of this, the thesis looks into the potential that shared housing could contribute with, as an alternative to today's resource intensive housing. The thesis results in thoughts about how the shared housing has a potential to increased ecological sustainability in the housing sector through sharing different resources within the home. The analysis of this thesis shows that the absolute ecological sustainability is difficult to increase as a focus on technological development is prioritized. It also shows that shared housing has the potential to increase the ecological sustainability in the housing sector. However, which factors plays a role in this is something that, based on the scope of this thesis, is difficult to say for sure. Though, it is something that future research can investigate to enable the ability to increase the ecological sustainability in the housing sector.}},
  author       = {{Alfredsson, Karin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{En kritisk studie av ekologisk hållbarhet i bostadssektorn - Med fokus på tekniska lösningar och delade boendeformer}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}